Below are some tidbits on baseball and sportscard collecting.
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baseball, football, basketball, hockey, sports and
non-sport cards and card collecting.

Q9: What are some of the terms used for card grading ?

Using a system of grading codes based on those established by price guides such as
Beckett, Tuff Stuff, Sports Collector’s Digest, collectors can determine the
approximate condition of items offered by interpreting the following grades.
Grading is very subjective and there can also be grades in between the levels below.

MINT (MT) - while we rarely use this grade, occasionally it can be found for
items that we appraise as appearing nearly perfect to the naked eye. With respect to
cards, it would be defined as one with 50/50 centering all around, razor-sharp corners,
a photo that is well-registered and completely focused, and no visible imperfections
on card front or back.

NEAR MINT-MINT (NRMT/MT) - is qualified by at least 60/40 centering, only the
slightest hint of corner wear upon close inspection, and may have a barely visible
print spot, lack of intense color, or a slight focus imperfection.

NEAR MINT (NRMT) - card displays at least 70/30 centering, may have a visible
slight touch of corner wear all around, and/or a few slightly visible print spots,
a lack of intense color, or a slight focus imperfection.

EXCELLENT-MINT (EX/MINT) - centering equivalent to NRMT (70/30), but 2 or 3
corners display an obvious "fuzzy" quality. Essentially, a card that would have been
deemed NRMT if not for the corner wear being more apparent. May have a barely visible
print spot, a lack of intense color, or a slight focus imperfection.

EXCELLENT (EX) - all four corners show visible signs of wear, but are not
rounded. Centering at least 80/20. May have a visible print spot, a lack of intense
color, or a slight focus imperfection.

VERY GOOD (VG) - Corners are rounded and the card may have creases or wrinkles.

FAIR TO GOOD - in this grade, card has rounded corners and other major defects
such as scuffing, pinholes, loss of gloss, multiple creases. In general, a markedly
worn card and often used as a "filler" until a better one comes along.

The issue below is featured elsewhere on this website:

1959 Fleer Ted Williams

Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game !
The 'Splendid Splinter' played from 1939-1942 and 1946-1960 all with
the Boston Red Sox. He missed 1943 thru 1945 due to military duty when he
was a pilot during the wars. For his career he hit .344 with 521 home runs.
Ted Williams was one of the biggest stars baseball has ever seen,
and his baseball cards remain very popular and valuable.

Ted's rookie card was in 1950 Bowman and he was exclusive with Bowman from
1950 thru 1954. In 1954 he also allowed Topps to make his cards which
they did from 1954 thru 1958.

In 1959 Fleer signed Ted Williams away from Topps and assumed the star
Ted Williams would be retiring, put out an entire 80-card set of cards
highlighting Ted Williams and illustrating his life both in and out of baseball.
Williams decided late in the fall to resign for another year perhaps
damaging the sets impact. Today these cards remain extremely popular
with most of the cards in teh set still quite affordable.

There is one very rare card in this set, #68 picturing Ted with Bucky Harris.
UNFORTUNATELY Topps had Bucky Harris under exclusive contract and
Fleer had to quickly halt production of this card making it a significant
SHORT PRINT. Only a few made it out to the public. This card is quite rare,
hardly ever seen and a plain old simple checklist making it the perfect
candidate for counterfeiting.
NOTE: This card has been counterfeited in significant quantities
so you should be very, very careful when looking to acquire this card.

Other interesting cards are those that picture Ted with Babe Ruth,
Jimmie Foxx, Sam Snead and Jim Thorpe. In addition, cards of Ted fishing
or with his airplane are also very popular.

1972 Topps Baseball Cards AUTOGRAPHED Set info/information

By now you all heard of the rash of counterfeit autographs on the market. The following autographs all come with auction house LOA's (Letters of Authenticity) from the top
authenticators in the hobby - PSA/DNA or James Spence !!!